In term 1 and term 2, there was an opportunity for a school marathon that I could participate in for my activity experience. It was the Cross Country Marathon, running for 11 km, divided into separate days. The first day, it was 3 km, the next was 5 km and the last was again 3 km. I wanted to choose this activity because I thought that it would help me build my strength and help me explore a new activity, running marathons. This activity helped me build my strength and endurance, despite facing several challenges during the process. The runs took place from the school gate to through the KG farm and back to the school gate. There were several hydration stations through the pathway with teachers continuously encouraging on the students. It was very tiring and needed a lot of dedication and commitment. However, even though it was very tough and tiring to complete this course, it feel good to be out in the sun and feel the nice breeze. The path was surrounded by nature, and this activity allowed us to explore it while exploring our own strengths. Participating in this marathon, helped me explore my strengths and weaknesses, concluding solutions I should take. Even though I faced some challenges in the process, it was a really nice experience, where I explored nature, enjoyed and developed my strength and endurance. This experience catered to LO1, LO2 and LO4.

LO1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

When I chose this marathon as my activity, I was sure that I was going to give up halfway due to my weakness. However, once I started the run, I got so immersed in the nature that I forgot that I was even tired. I found out that my strengths were endurance and steadiness, because I didn’t give up and went steady and slow and completed each race. My strengths were confidence and endurance. But, there were also some weaknesses I had, which were stamina and strength. I observed that I often got tired and couldn’t continue longer faster. I needed to slow down my speed to relax and start up again. This showed my weak strength, I was tired very often. Here, I found out my areas for growth, which were to build my strength more, so I would endure long period of physical activities. Thus, with this activity, I identified my areas for growth and strengths.

LO2:Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

During the activity, I developed several skills, but also faced many challenges during it. Throughout every run, while I was running on the path, every now and then I felt an excruciating pain in my calf and the side of my abdomen, urging me to slow down and soothe it. I could not run better because of that pain and I knew that it was because of my weakness and strength. Due to my poor stamina and endurance, I felt this pain and couldn’t perform well. However, due to my self-confidence, I managed to complete each race, even though I wasn’t fast enough. Despite these challenges, I developed my self-management skills as I took care of my physical and mental health, using confidence to never back down and pushing myself to cross the finish line. I developed my strength and identified my areas of growth, analysing how I could improve them more. I believed in myself, and continuously assured that I could cross the finish line, and I did. This shows my self management skills, and shows that I didn’t back out of this.

LO4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

This experience spanned three days, each having 3-5 km runs. It required a lot of dedication and hard work to complete. It needed commitment for three full days. During this, I was kind of concerned of the timespan. One day was enough for me to handle a tiring marathon, but three seemed a little overboard for me personally. But, I had listened to the reviews of my fellow classmates who had participated in this marathon last year and I learnt that it’s not just about exercise. It’s about finding a safe space, where you can’t hear anyone else, and it’s just you and road and the breeze. I wanted to feel it, thus, I commited three days to this marathon. It wasn’t about winning in the first place, it was about finding oneself. On the first day itself, I was done with this run. My body was paining and my legs were sore. I wanted to back out. However, I had committed to the experience, so I was bound to complete it no matter what. Then, I completed the second day and the third. At the end, I realised that I enjoyed these days a lot, since I felt free and was able to discover myself and improve myself. Due to my dedication and perseverance, I completed this activity successfully over a span of 3 days. I developed my endurance, strength and identified areas of growth. This clearly shows commitment and perseverance to my experience, showing my dedication and the will to go on.

Overall, this was a very fruitful experience, as I got to physically exercise myself and improve my health and well being through an activity. This allowed me to connect with myself and nature.